Hazelnut alley cropping for the Pacific Northwest

Commercial hazelnuts are a woody perennial crop that requires significant upfront investment. They are typically grown in a monocropped orchard, with bare soil or a closely-cropped grassy orchard floor. Hazelnuts are usually harvested from the ground, meaning that the presence of intercrops is a hindrance for harvest. This results in lower in-field diversity, wasted production space, and unrealized income potential. The use of alley space for production has the potential to increase food and nutrient yields as well as economic returns from the system, but management strategies for doing so without interfering with nut harvest have yet to be established for the Pacific Northwest.

We will establish a hazelnut alley-crop system with the goal of developing strategies for allowing both nut and intercrop harvest. We plan to evaluate the feasibility of intercropping with hazelnuts under three different canopies – single stem, multi-stem, and hedging forms. Strategies may include using harvest technologies such as straddle-harvesters and ATV-pulled harvesters that work in narrow spaces. We will also experiment with different intercrops to develop best practices with the goals of with the goals of allowing efficient nut harvest, maximizing food production from the intercrop, and maintaining soil health and fertility under organic management.

Faculty Supervisor:

Kent Mullinix;Maayan Kreitzman

Student:

Partner:

BC Hazelnut Growers Association;Rodale Institute

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Agriculture

University:

Kwantlen Polytechnic University

Program: